Jan. 8, 2009
Box Score
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Kennesaw State's women's basketball team held North Florida to just five field goals in the second half and used a double-double from senior Britteny Henderson and a game-high 16 points from junior Greteya Kelley to earn a 60-50 win on Thursday night at UNF arena.
"We led at halftime, but the tempo of the game was a lot faster than we wanted it to be," said KSU head coach Colby Tilley. "We wanted to force the tempo better in the second half, and our offensive rebounding and our defense really enabled us to do that."
KSU (6-6, 3-1 A-Sun) led by four at the end of the first 20 mintues, and led by seven in the early stages when UNF went on a 6-0 run to cut the lead to one. With momentum on UNF's side, freshman Angie Smith stole the ball after six seconds of one-on-one pressure underneath the UNF basket. Smith converted the steal into a lay-up and gave the Lady Owls a three-point lead, 48-45. The play sparked a 9-0 run, capped by a three-pointer from the corner by Kelley to give KSU a 55-45 lead.
KSU was held scoreless for the next six minutes, but the Lady Owls kept UNF to just three points during that stretch. The drought was snapped with a three from the corner by Kelley, which propelled the Lady Owls on to the 10-point win.
Henderson had 12 points and a game-high 10 rebounds - six offensive - to lead KSU. Gia Lockett scored 13 first-half points for KSU.
UNF (2-12, 1-4) was led by Jennifer Bowen's 16 points, while Brittany Kirkland scored 15. UNF turned the ball over 19 times, the second-lowest turnover total the Lady Owls have forced this season; however, 14 of those turnovers were on KSU steals, matching the highest steal total for the Lady Owls this season.
The Lady Owls got off to a slow start again as UNF scored the first five points of the game and led 7-2 before a three by Kelley and a basket by Jennifer Baker evened the score. UNF would respond by holding the Lady Owls scoreless for nearly four minutes and opening a 13-7 lead.
UNF continued the run, extending the spurt to 11-2 before a Lockett three-pointer stopped the bleeding. UNF led 20-12 but a three-pointer by Lockett and a steal and lay-up by Kelley brought KSU within three. After a bucket by the Lady Ospreys, Kelley connected from long range to cut the deficit to a bucket, but the Lady Ospreys scored four straight to extend the lead back up to six.
KSU fought to keep it close, trimming the lead down to one, 28-27, after a basket in transition by DeAndrea Bullock. Finally, a basket by Henderson put the Lady Owls on top with just over three minutes left in the half. Bullock followed with a three-pointer to give KSU a 32-28 lead. UNF scored on two straight possessions to tie the score, but Henderson gave KSU the lead back with a lay-up. The lead went up to four on a basket by Lockett, but UNF scored with six secnds left to cut the lead to two. Forced to inbound the ball with four-tenths of a second remaining, Lockett banked in a shot from just inside mid-court to give the Lady Owls a 39-35 halftime lead.
The Lady Owls will be back in action this Saturday when they visit Jacksonville University. Game time at Swisher Gym is set for 1:00 p.m.
